Christmas Traditions

Christmas is probably the most festive time of the year, a season of gift-giving and celebration. We all know that Christmas is a religious holiday which marks the birth of Jesus Christ. But did you also know that some of the traditions are adapted from rituals dating back to a time before Christianity?

Many pagan peoples regarded the winter solstice as a time of celebration. Anticipating the return of spring, people decorated their homes with evergreen plants, a symbol of eternal life. Mistletoe was especially popular, as it was believed to have magic powers. People hung sprigs of mistletoe in their homes and kissed beneath them as a gesture of friendship. At pagan festivals there was also a lot of singing and dancing going on – “dancing in a circle” is the original meaning of the word “carol”.

Still now we keep these traditions up: we sing Christmas carols and dance around in circles, we kiss beneath the mistletoe and we decorate our homes with Christmas trees. By the way, did you know that it was a German who set the trend of decorating Christmas trees in England? It was Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. When he moved to England, Christmas trees had already been popular in continental Europe, but not in England. In 1841, Prince Albert put up a Christmas tree at Windsor Castle. The event was reported in the press; and as the whole country was very keen on the royal family, people enthusiastically took up the custom of decorating a tree at Christmas.

Task 1. Answer the questions according to the text.

1. What did pagan peoples celebrate at this time of the year?

   1. the birth of Jesus Christ b) the winter solstice

3. the magic powers of mistletoe

2. What does the word “carol” originally mean?

1. to dance in a circle b)to sing Christmas songs

c) to sing and dance around the Christmas tree

3. According to the text, which statement is correct?

1. The royal family were the first Europeans who had a Christmas tree.

2. Many people went to Windsor Castle to see the Christmas tree.

3. Queen Victoia had a German husband.

A sense of identity

Vocabulary

a unitary state – унитарное государство to emerge – появляться

a political entity – политический субъект to rule – управлять

Task 1. Look at the title of the text. What do you think it is about? Say the words you expect to find in it.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, to give it its formal title, is a highly centralized and unitary state and its largest component England. By the sixteenth century Wales was fully incorporated into English administration and law but Britain as a political entity did not emerge until 1707, when the ancient kingdoms of Scotland and England were united. Ireland, which fell completely under English rule in the sixteenth century, became formally part of the United Kingdom in the 1801 when, like Scotland a century earlier, it lost its own parliament. Ireland achieved independence in 1921, with the exception of six northern counties which remained part of the United Kingdom. Yet Northern Ireland is not part of Britain, although the term “Britain” is often used to mean the United Kingdom. London is the capital of England and the UK. The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh; the capitals of Wales and Northern Ireland are Cardiff and Belfast.

Great Britain and the Ireland are separated by the Irish Sea. The north-west and west of Great Britain is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean. In the east the country is washed by the North Sea, in the south it is separated from France by the English Channel.

England, unlike the largely mountainous counties of Wales and Scotland, is mainly lowland, except for six major hilly regions: the Pennines, called the “backbone of England” dividing the north west of England from the north east; the scenic Lake District in the north west; the Yorkshire Dales, running to the east coast of Yorkshire; the moorlands of Cornwall and Devon in the south west; and the border areas with Scotland and Wales. Elsewhere the ranges of hills are relatively low, while East Midlands and East Anglia are notably flat and featureless. In Scotland and Wales the greater part of the population is concentrated in the more lowland areas, particularly the area between Glasgow and Edinburgh, and in the eastern and south-eastern parts of Wales.

Task 2. Answer the questions:

1. What are main parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?

2. When was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland formed?

3. What is the UK washed by?

4. Are there any mountains in the UK?

Task 3. Fill in the necessary information about the structure of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

capital landscape additional information

LONDON